Provident Trust Co. Sells 2,956,546 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Provident Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,878,640 shares of the airline's stock after selling 2,956,546 shares during the period. Southwest Airlines makes up about 2.6% of Provident Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Provident Trust Co. owned approximately 0.81% of Southwest Airlines worth $144,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LUV. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 7,365 shares of the airline's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth about $1,518,000. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,306 shares of the airline's stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 32,551 shares of the airline's stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. 80.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LUV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Southwest Airlines from $19.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southwest Airlines from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Southwest Airlines to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.31.

Southwest Airlines Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Southwest Airlines stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.78. 4,071,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,322,625. The stock has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -454.00, a P/E/G ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Southwest Airlines Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.18.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The airline reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Southwest Airlines had a positive return on equity of 4.56% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other news, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, for a total transaction of $19,300,764.24. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southwest Airlines news, major shareholder Elliott Investment Management sold 1,203,920 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.83, for a total transaction of $35,912,933.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,912,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,787,192,261.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rakesh Gangwal acquired 643,788 shares of Southwest Airlines stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.98 per share, with a total value of $19,300,764.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,606,311 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,117,203.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.